Itoo have suffered at the hands of indolent US baggage services staff when a flight has been cancelled for bad weather. It took 5 hours of hectoring, and a shift change which produced a young lady that still believed in customer service, before we got our bag back.
There was no way that we were prepared to leave our bag overnight at JFK, and the idea that this is acceptable is untenable both on the grounds of customer service and security of the bag.
Returning bags is a pain, been there done that in my working life, but it is not rocket science. The bags are made up for each flight and stored together by flight number, plus in Europe the application of triple 'A' baggage procedures would mean that the individual baggage bin or baggage dolly holding your bag could be quickly and easily identified.
So does the reluctance of NW to return the bag mean that yet again the organisation and security applied by USA domestic carriers is less than that found in Europe?
FernyT I think your other half should stick to their principles and insist on getting their bag back. They can recheck it in when they know that the flight is going to operate.